Difference between urban and rural lifestyle.

Urban, rural... How many times in our life have we heard and pronounced these concepts ourselves, not really thinking about their deep meaning! For us, these are antonymic words, the meaning of which we have learned from childhood. However, do we know exactly and thoroughly what is the difference between the inhabitants of these two "settlements"? It would seem that the answer is unequivocal - yes. But as reviews of this topic on the Internet and the personal experience of the authors have shown, this is far from always the case. As a rule, the understanding of the difference between urban and rural lifestyles is based on several stereotypes, which are not exhaustive and definitive. We hope that our article will help the reader understand this issue. We will warn you in advance that we will talk about life in sufficiently developed and prosperous cities and villages.

We all come from the village...

Seemingly controversial statement. And, probably, the townspeople in the tenth generation will be outraged to the core. However, if you look into the far distant, this is certainly the case. When the primitive man came out of the cave and built the first huts, it was not an urban-type dwelling at all, but a rural settlement, where agriculture, keeping pets and livestock, and hunting were in the first place. Moreover, this way of life lasted for millennia. Therefore, no matter how proud someone is of their urban ancestry, its roots grew from the village.

However, let us return from the distant past to the present. What are the main characteristics of a modern village? It's hard not to notice them.

Material

A village, a settlement is always a small community of people living in a relatively small area. For example, in many republics of the former USSR, the standard is still in force - if the number of people living in one settlement (meaning a village, village) exceeds 10 thousand people, then it receives the status of an urban-type settlement (urban-type settlement), that is, almost a city... Again, nowhere in the world can you find a village the size of Paris or Moscow. Although in fairness it is worth noting that these cities (like the vast majority of others) also once started with small villages. We list some of the main features that are mandatory in rural settlements.

• Lack of large-scale production. Of course, there are many factories, industrial complexes and powerful industrial complexes located far from cities, but all residential and non-residential buildings around them have the status of at least an urban settlement or a specialized town.

• Obligatory presence of a subsistence economy. In many of today's villages, modern low and multi-storey buildings are being built with all the city amenities. However, the main housing stock of any rural settlement is a private house with a courtyard and a plot of land for planting.

• Financial component. Now many villagers do not work on the land, as it was in the recent past. They work in small, but fairly modern enterprises of various specializations, which are created in large numbers in today's villages. These factories, workshops, individual production shops are no different from similar enterprises in the city. However, it should be admitted that the average salary in the countryside is lower than in the city, and in some places it is quite significant. And these are statistics not only for the CIS, but all over the world.

• In the countryside you will not meet academicians or designers of spaceships. With rare exceptions, great artists or outstanding architects do not work here either. And this is not caused by a lack of talents (with this, everything is in order), but by the lack of a material base for the work and creativity of such individuals. In the village you will not find the Bolshoi Art Theater or the Research Institute of Brain Traumatology. There are no National Libraries and Tretyakov Galleries here. Good or bad is an open question. But the fact that this is impractical is clear without words.

• And more. About 20-25 years ago, one could write about the uncomfortable living in the countryside (in the territories of the former country of the Soviets). Now this topic is no longer relevant. With today's technologies, you can provide yourself with conditions no worse than in a city - even in a remote taiga. It all depends on the availability of appropriate finance. In the West, this problem was solved many decades ago.

Spiritual

Let us also dwell a little on the spiritual component of the modern village. And she occupies a significant place in the village way of life.

• The rural population is more friendly than the urban population. This is due to the close ties between the members of this society. Family and neighborly relations are much stronger here than in a metropolis.

• In the countryside, people are more or less equal in social status, there are no large cultural and material gaps between members of the rural society. The rural intelligentsia (doctors, teachers, etc.) is much closer to ordinary villagers than their urban counterparts are to the so-called hard workers.

• Life, spiritual communication between fellow villagers flows measuredly, steadily and trustingly. The very rhythm of such a life contributes to a more sincere relationship between people, their high ability for mutual assistance and compassion. No wonder we all know the phrase: "A neighbor's barn caught fire, and we extinguished it with the whole village." However, no one heard, for example, such an expression: "The neighboring nine-story building caught fire, and we extinguished it with the whole microdistrict." It is impossible to imagine that during a fire in a village, its residents gathered in a heap away from the flames, photographed it on mobile phones or took a selfie against the background of the fire, without even thinking about some scanty help to the arriving firefighters. Unfortunately, this is the order of the day in the city.

• A villager's love for his small homeland is much stronger than that of a city dweller. And although many may say that this is a controversial statement, since many rural youth leave for the city and with all their might try to gain a foothold there, there are no fewer examples when a person moves from a small town to the capital or a large regional center and completely forgets where he is from. and for decades does not remember the city of his childhood. The villager for the most part always remembers where he comes from, and at the first opportunity he goes to his native birches for at least a few days.

Skyscrapers, skyscrapers, and I'm so small...

Monster, handsome, fantastic, ruthless, indifferent... These, and not only, epithets can be heard in combination with the word city. And we must admit that they are all legitimate. The city is the son of the village, a wayward son, eccentric, not at all like his parent. And the difference between the urban way of life and the rural one strikes the eye of any person who comes here from a distant village. Huge, insatiable, consuming everything that the earth gives, endowed with all known vices - sometimes it may seem like a punishment sent to people for their sins. But if there were no city, mankind would never have risen to the present stage of civilization. All the global achievements of our world were created in cities, and this is an indisputable fact. Cities are essential for the development of the human community, at least at today's historical level. Let's take a closer look at the features that characterize a typical urban landscape.

• Huge, multi-storey residential anthills, where more people live in one entrance than in some strong villages. Plants, factories, large industrial and trade associations are an organic feature of any more or less developed urban settlement.

• Advanced medicine, science, large educational complexes (institutes, universities, academies, etc.) - again, an exclusively urban privilege.

• One of the significant advantages of the city over the countryside is its well-developed infrastructure. As you know, this concept combines the presence of a transport system, schools, medical institutions, service complexes, services of budgetary organizations, retail facilities, etc. That is, in other words, everything that makes a person's life beyond the threshold of his home easier and more comfortable, can be attributed to infrastructure. Unfortunately, even in modern and prosperous villages, many elements of such a system leave much to be desired.

• A big problem for any village and even a small district town is the choice of a specialty and getting a job in it. In a large, wealthy city, this issue is much less acute. With perseverance, ability and a strong desire, a city dweller is almost always able to find a job according to his taste and specialty.

• The city is full of all kinds of entertainment. Theaters, exhibitions, numerous sports shows, concerts - all this is quite common, natural things for a city dweller, but for a country dweller it is more likely to be exotic, a rare holiday...

• Political events, cultural and ordinary revolutions, fundamental reforms always begin in cities and from there spread throughout the country.

• Contrasts in the interpersonal communication of social groups are very strong in the city. For example, at some turning point, crisis moments, the workers of one or several factories can unite and in an organized way make urgent demands, provide each other with moral and material support. Here we see a certain similarity with a rural community. However, the same workers may live in one multi-storey and multi-entrance building and do not really even know who lives with them on the same staircase. In the countryside, this is basically impossible. They not only know thoroughly everything about their neighbors, but also often have the same information about the whole street, or even about the whole village.

• The disunity of the townspeople has long been the talk of the town. Cases when, for example, a lonely person dies in a neighboring apartment and lies there for weeks, or even months, are not uncommon. Neighbors begin to react only to an unpleasant smell, and even then not always. We have brought this grim example just to show how people living in the city are far from each other in terms of communication, despite the fact that they live more crowded than the villagers.

• The rhythm of life in the city is incomparable with the rural pace. It is much taller, more fussy and filled with stress to the limit. It is not surprising that, according to statistics, despite the higher level of medical care, urban dwellers, on average, live less than their rural counterparts.

Note. In very rare cases, some of the above factors are present in the village, but this is an exception to the rule, only confirming the rule.

Comparison

Above, we have described the most, in our opinion, characteristic features of urban and rural lifestyles, although it should be admitted that this is far from an exhaustive analysis. Now let's try to summarize all this in one table and draw some conclusions.

Table

An attentive reader may ask: "What does all of the above have to do with the topic of the article - what is the difference between urban and rural lifestyles?" The most direct. For example, the presence of a highly developed infrastructure allows a city dweller to work his day more fully than the same villager.

For example, in order to get to some narrow specialist-doctor or to pass a specific analysis, a villager will most likely have to go to the regional center, or even to the nearest large city. This can take him all day. For the same city dweller, all this can be done in a couple of hours. That is, he will still have a lot of time for other things. And accordingly, they plan their day. One (a villager) has 1-2 things to do - and the day has come to an end. Another (city dweller) may have a dozen things to do, and in the evening another hockey trip.

However, it should be borne in mind that a city dweller pays for his compressed, highly productive day with more nervous tension and a higher possibility of getting into stressful situations. At the same time, the villager will suffer less in any case, since he has much less such situations. This is a vivid example of the influence of the place of residence on the lifestyle of the resident.

So, it can be argued that every characteristic feature of a city or village directly affects the inhabitants of these societies. Of course, both urban and rural lifestyles have their disadvantages and advantages, but everyone chooses where to live.